Vehicles which employ automatic transmissions are normally provided with a drive range indicator that visually identifies the specific drive range in which the transmission of the vehicle is currently operating. Such indicators are often located adjacent to the drive range selecting lever itself, and when the drive range selecting lever is located on the console between the two front seats such a location requires that the operator of the vehicle shift not only his gaze, but perhaps even his head in order to read the drive range indicator. Those installations in which the drive range selecting lever is located on the steering column and presents a pointer element which is directly secured to the drive range selecting lever obviate the aforesaid problem, but such installations do utilize a rather substantial housing assembly within which to encase the indicator mechanism. As is well known, the indicator scale includes symbols to identify the various operating ranges of the transmission which may be selected by the operator of the vehicle. Such symbols typically include the letter P to indicate "park", R to indicate "reverse", D to indicate "drive" and one or more L's (or even numerical designations 1, 2, etc. to indicate the low range, or ranges, available). The size of the housing required to contain the various components of the drive range indicator is generally considered to be sufficient to block the desired view of the instrument panel, and as such the trend is to include the drive range indicator display as one of the "gauges" in the instrument panel itself.
In any typical drive range indicator the pointer element moves in conjunction with the drive range selecting lever to identify the drive range within which the transmission is operating. Thus, as the drive range selecting lever is operated to select the desired shift range, the pointer element moves to designate the appropriate symbol. A typical prior art indicator assembly having a pointer element is depicted in the drawings of U.S. Pat. No. 3,990,387, issued to Martin, Nov. 9, 1976, and assigned to the assignee of the present invention.
As depicted in U.S. Pat. No. 4,213,415, issued to Coha et al., July 22, 1980, and assigned to the assignee of the present invention, drive range indicator assemblies employ a control cable which operates between the drive range selecting lever and the pointer element. Control cables employed in representative arrangements typically have a sheath portion and a core portion that is slidably received within the sheath portion. Translation of the core within the sheath effects movement of the pointer element against the biasing action of a spring means. As such, the drive range selecting lever is normally connected to the pointer element by virtue of the core in a control cable.
In a typical installation where the drive range selecting lever is connected to the pointer element by the core of a control cable, it is known that by varying the effective length of the control cable the position of the pointer element can be adjusted with respect to the indicator scale without movement of the drive range selecting lever.
It must be appreciated that it is extremely difficult to have each component of the drive range indicator assembly, the control cable and the drive range selecting lever always of the exact same dimension so that when all parts are assembled the pointer element will always align exactly with the appropriate symbol on the indicator scale. Inasmuch as a misaligned pointer element would result in an erroneous, or confusing, indication of the shift range which has been selected for the transmission, a need exists for a device by which to adjust the coordinated response of the pointer element to the movement of the drive range selecting lever in order accurately to designate the shift range selected for the transmission.
Heretofore, one end of the control cable sheath has been secured to the housing of the indicator assembly in proximity to that end of the sheath from which the core exits for attachment to the pointer element, and the other end of the sheath has been connected to an adjusting member that is secured to a mounting member. The fastening means, normally a screw, by which the adjusting member is secured to the mounting member may be threadably received within the mounting member frictionally to lock the adjusting member in the selected position. As such the fastening means may be loosened to permit the adjusting member to be selectively moved along the mounting member, thereby accomplishing an adjustment to the effective length of the control cable. When the desired effective length of the control cable has been achieved, the fastening means must be re-tightened. This arrangement possesses some inherent difficulties, particularly because it is often difficult to maintain the selected position of the adjusting member relative to the mounting member while the fastening means is being re-tightened, and also because the very process of re-tightening the fastening means will itself sometimes cause the adjusting member to move with respect to the mounting member.